1965 Chevy El Camino Bites It

El Camino Bites ItWhat is it about 16-year-olds and their '65 Chevys? You might remember that our pal Kevin McClelland's son Daniel wrecked his '65 Chevelle soon after the car was completed. Now, Graham Smith's just-finished '65 El Camino has ended up in the ditch a scant month after its cross-country trip chronicled in our Jan. '07 issue. Damage was limited to the front bumper and one framehorn, the core support, and the left front fender, which is now wrinkled.

Graphic WeldingRemember Scott Gillman, our buddy who lives in Crested Butte, Colorado, and who helped us repair our '65 El Camino fenderwell snafu? This is his Millerarc 250 welder adorned with what looks suspiciously like an Allison V-12 exhaust stack you might find on a World War II fighter plane. Cool. . . .

The StudioJust in case you think our covers wear snapshots taken by staff monkeys with cell phones, check out the elaborate setup needed to shoot a simple engine for the Jan. '07 cover. It usually takes four to six hours, depending on how the creativity flows, then it takes two minutes for it to get killed by the art department.

The VanPart of every shoot's chaos is the equipment van. Wes Allison is usually hanging upside-down from a camera rig when he asks for something from the van. "Get the 20mm that's in the little black vinyl case." Sure Wes, whatever.